


A Place to Call Home

by RosieCheeks101



Series: we're just a bunch of teenagers. we can't handle this. [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Childhood Friends, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dumbledore Bashing, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Multi, Past Relationship(s), Tags to be added, Undercover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-17 07:46:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9312158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosieCheeks101/pseuds/RosieCheeks101
Summary: Welcome to the home for Wayward Wizards of the First Wizarding War, also known as the Marauders' house





	1. Marlene McKinnon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "My fifth year, your fourth, Hufflepuff was playing Gryffindor, you were commentating the game. I believe you serenaded me.”

Marlene glanced around the room she was standing in, the walls were all painted different colours; yellow, hot pink, dark blue and green. It shouldn’t have worked but it did.  


“You’re sure you don’t mind letting me crash here for a few days?” she said, looking at Remus, who smiled.  


“Trust me, it’s fine. We’re all happy to have you,” he assured her for the millionth time.  


Marlene nodded, “I know, it’s just, I didn’t give you any warning, I just showed up at your door with Alice. And we’ve hardly spoken since I graduated,” she rambled.  


“Marley, it’s fine,” he said, placing a hand on her arm gently, “I’d prefer you here than at a shelter, or back with…” he trailed off, “If Alice and Frank trust you, than so do I. And they do, I know they’d have taken you in in a heartbeat if they’d had the space.”  


The blonde nodded slowly, “Okay.”  


“Okay, I’ll let you get settled in,” he clapped his hands and turned to the door, “Oh yeah, in the kitchen there’s a whiteboard, half of it’s dedicated to the house rules and the other to whatever, I advise looking at it, some of those rules are important, the other half are ridiculous enough to be funny.”  


“Thank you,” she called after him as he left.  


“Anytime.”  


She dropped her bag on the floor and headed straight to the bathroom. She spent nearly an hour in there, cleaning off layers of dirt and blood to reveal purpleish bruises beginning to form and cuts beginning to heal.  


When she came out of the shower she saw that her dirty clothes had been taken. Where they had been lay a pair of black jeans and a large grey hoodie. On top of the clothes was a first aid kit, which she picked up and put on the bathroom counter before turning back to the pile. She changed quickly and started attending to her cuts. When she was done she made her way out of the room and downstairs to the kitchen.  


To get to the kitchen she had to walk through the dining room. The room had dark red, orange, grey and light blue walls, and in the centre sat a long white table with ten chairs, all different styles and colours. She was starting to see a theme here.  


She grabbed a chocolate frog from the cupboard and walked over to the whiteboard that took up almost an entire wall. She read through the list of rules and laughed around her chocolate.  


_1\. Don’t eat anything Lily cooks, she means well but she’s horrible_  
_2\. Keep a hand on the fire extinguisher at all times if you see Lily in proximity to the kitchen, that isn’t even a joke_  
_3\. We’re a bunch of horny 18 year olds, we advise knocking before entering any room_  
_4\. If you’re going to argue with Sirius, don’t look him in the eyes, his puppy dog eyes have magical mind control powers_  
_5\. If Sirius ever proposed to or declared his undying love to you at school, we apologise, please don’t bring it up to him, bring it up to the rest of us when he’s not around so we can laugh at him_  
_6\. Don’t touch Sirius’ hair straightener without asking, just don’t_  
_7\. Never say the word serious in this house, doesn’t matter if Sirius is in the front yard and you’re in the bathroom, he’ll hear you and act accordingly_  
(Etc.) 

“Don’t laugh, those are serious business,” a voice came from behind her, she turned around and Sirius was grinning happily at her, “Rule #7 is especially important according to Moony.”  


“Hmm, if you get to break a rule, I do too,” she smirked, “It was my fifth year, your fourth, Hufflepuff was playing Gryffindor, you were commentating the game. I believe you serenaded me.”  


“Oh god,” he mumbled, covering his face with his hands, “I was so annoying.”  


“You were so adorable.”  


He rolled his eyes, “That doesn’t help.”  


She smiled and hugged him tightly, “It’s been too long.”  


He hugged back gingerly, avoiding her cuts and bruises, and nodded in agreement.  


“Why does no one take the rules seriously except for me?” Remus drawled as he walked passed them to the stove, he tapped his wand on the whiteboard and the side without the rules, which had previously been blank, suddenly had writing on it.  


_Dinner is Shepherds Pie, don’t like it, suck it up or go out for dinner_ \- Remus  
_Duties Roster_  
_Dishes - Sirius_  
_Setting the table - Lily_  
_Clearing the table - Marlene_  
_Serving up the food - James_  
_Cooking and Sweeping - Remus_  
_Full Moon in 3 days_

Marlene wasn’t sure why they needed the date of the full moon up there but before she could ask Sirius spoke, “Remmie! We agreed on not using magic to write on the board!” Sirius admonished his boyfriend as he pulled away from her.  


Remus just shot him a look that screamed ‘I can’t put up with this shit right now,’ and Sirius seemed to get it and turned back to Marlene.  


“Let’s leave Rem to do his thing, shall we?” he was already pulling her out of the kitchen, through the mismatched dining room and up the stairs.  


“Where are we going Sirius?”  


“You haven’t seen James and Lily yet,” he knocked on a bright green door and it swung open. James stood in the doorway with a confused look which broke into a grin when he saw her.  


“Marley!” he said excitedly, lunging at her.  


“Hey James,” she said patting the back of her childhood best friend. She looked up to see Lily leaning against the door, “Hi Lily.”  


“Hey Marlene,” she smiled.  


“C'mon, let’s talk downstairs,” James let go of her and Lily quickly grabbed her hand and dragged her back downstairs. Marlene let herself be pulled along, happy she had friends like these. 


	2. Dorcas Meadowes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "McGonagall cares, Dumbledore doesn't, he never did."

Dorcas never expected to be one of the scared shaking people who arrived at the Marauders' door, but here she was, dark hair looped into a messy bun at the back of her head and blood dripping down her forehead.

It took a few moments before Lily appeared, immediately ushering her through the door and onto the couch, "Wait here, I'll go get the first aid kit and clean you up," she instructed before disappearing, and Dorcas winced when she saw the time displayed on the wall, she'd probably woken the poor girl up. 

Dorcas couldn't help but laugh, however, at the size of the Marauders' first aid kit, and Lily just smiled affectionately and nodded her agreement while she pushed the other girl's hair to the side with practiced hands. 

"Can I sleep now?" Dorcas whined when Lily finished, and the red head rolled her eyes and stood, offering her a hand. 

"I'll show you the spare room, there's a bathroom so can shower and stuff, I'll lend your some clothes if you want?" she offered, gaze sliding over Dorcas' torn clothes, and she just nodded mutely. 

Once she was settled in the spare room she sunk into the mattress, too tired to shower, and fell asleep almost immediately. She managed to sleep peacefully through the night and well into the next day, before being woken by a body falling into the bed beside her. 

"You still tryna get into my pants? Thought you had a boyfriend now," she teased as she rolled onto her side and looked up at the man, though Remus just smiled affectionately and wiped some blood from the corner of her mouth with his thumb before handing her a chocolate. 

"You gave Lily quite the scare y'know, showing up all bloody and bruised," he informed her as she began to eat, pulling her close to comb his fingers through her knotted hair, "I take it undercover didn't end well?" 

She snorted around her chocolate and hummed in agreement, leaning into his chest and shutting her eyes, "Tell your boyfriend his cousin fucking sucks," she grumbled. 

"And which cousin would this be?" he snorted. 

"Bellatrix, though you can tack on the other one as well. Not that blondie's actually a bad person, but she creeps me out." 

"Yes," Remus agreed with an affectionate smile, "Narcissa isn't exactly renowned for being chatty." 

She nodded and peaked up at him, "Speaking, however, of your boyfriend, why're you here spooning me when you could be making out with him?" 

"You're my best friend, course I'm not gonna abandon you in your time of need," he mumbled into her hair as he hugged her from behind and she lost a little of her playful air, shoulders slumping. 

"You sleep with all your best friends?" she teased weakly, and he rolled his eyes. 

"Only the special ones, dear, and besides, that was ages ago now," he murmured, kissing her forehead gently, "eat your chocolate and stop ruining a sweet moment." 

Dorcas giggled and continued to eat the chocolate, glad it had stopped squirming in his hand, "You ever wonder how different our lives woulda been if certain things had gone differently?" 

"Which sort of things?" he inquired softly, twirling her hair around his finger. 

"Like what if You-Know-Who never went bad?" she inquired, "What if ol' Dumbly had actually looked out for him? Had actually cared about _any_ of us, really?" 

"Dumbledore cares," Remus objected, and she smiled humourlessly. 

"McGonagall cares, Dumbledore doesn't, he never did." 

Remus sighed and kissed her head, "What other things do you think about?" he inquired. 

She smiled again, "Imagine if you'd never followed Sirius that day he walked in on us. We'd probably still be together, have a bunch of shitty little kids like the Weasleys." 

Remus shuddered dramatically and wrinkled his nose teasingly, "Yuck, can you imagine us with kids?" he laughed, "We'd be such shitty parents. I doubt I'll ever want children," he admitted. 

"You'd be a good dad," she urged, propping her chin on his chest as she looked up at him, "Although you'd probably have to quit the pot. That'd be unfortunate, can't imagine you being, like, not high," she joked. 

Remus laughed and ruffled her hair, "You're tired," he observed, noting her drooping eyelids, "Go to sleep dear, I'll be here when you wake up," he promised.


End file.
